Ilya Bryzgalov has been cleared to play and should return to the lineup tonight against his first NHL team, the Anaheim Ducks. The Oilers are hoping he injects some life, enthusiasm and even some humour into a downtrodden dressing room.

The Oilers were dominated in Vancouver, and despite a solid 40 minutes against the Bruins on Thursday, the Oilers are 0-2 in their six-game stretch against elite teams. They will need to put forth a much better effort tonight, if they want to avoid being blown out by the red-hot Ducks.

The Ducks have won four straight, and are 7-1-2 in their last ten games and they've only allowed 22 goals in their past ten games. The Ducks finished 2nd in the west last season, and some suggested that their underlying statistics suggested that was a lucky 48-game stretch.

If you combine last year's 48 games with their first 34 this year you see an outstanding 82-game stretch.

The Ducks are 52-19-11 good for 115 points and they've outscored the opposition 248-205. The Ducks are a very good team and despite not having a true dominant #1 D-man, their blueline has been very steady even with Francois Beauchemin missing the last ten games.

GP

G

A

P

+/-

PIM

TOI/G

Cam Fowler

34

3

16

19

6

8

24:03:00

Francois Beauchemin

24

0

6

6

15

19

21:54

Ben Lovejoy

32

1

4

5

9

10

20:03

Hampus Lindholm

32

2

8

10

14

12

19:17

Bryan Allen

31

0

6

6

12

34

18:51

Luca Sbisa

9

0

1

1

-5

25

18:00

Sami Vatanen

26

3

4

7

0

12

17:54

Mark Fistric

13

1

1

2

-1

14

15:47

Nolan Yonkman

2

0

1

1

-1

0

14:53

Alex Grant

2

2

0

2

3

2

12:10

Fowler is playing in every situation. He plays 3:15/game on the PP and 2:47/game on the PK. Since Beauchemin went down, he's started playing even more and he's only 22 years old.

Hampus Lindholm played 44 games in the AHL last year as an 18-year old, and at 19 he has stepped into the NHL and performed very well. Ben Lovejoy was acquired for a 5th round pick last February, and he's turned out to be a steal for the Ducks.

They play a very solid game in their D-zone, and when they get the puck Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry take over. Getzlaf is 4th in NHL scoring with 16-22-38, while Perry is 6th with 21-15-36. Both of them are locks to make the Olympic team again, and their line, with Dustin Penner, is carrying the Ducks offensively.

Whoever matches up against that trio tonight is in for a tough game.

The Oilers are 1-5-1 over the past two seasons vs. the Ducks, and they've been outscored 21-8 in those seven games. They've struggled handling the Ducks' size, especially Getzlaf and Perry, and the Oilers will be hard pressed to avoid their 7th loss in 8 games vs. Anaheim.

LINEUP...UPDATE

Ales Hemsky is out with a rib injury, from the Ryan Kesler hit in Vancouver.

Ryan Smyth will draw in and Eakins will have to change his lines. Gagner will need to earn his way back into the top-nine I suspect, and I won't be surprised to see Smyth back with Gordon and Perron. The Oilers need Hall, RNH and Eberle to match the intensity and determination of Perron. If they do that, this team will have a much better chance of winning more games.

Eakins could switch his pairs and maybe try to match Petry and Ference vs. Getzlaf's line, otherwise Larsen or J.Schultz could be in for some long shifts in the D zone.

Bryzgalov

I'm assuming he starts. The Ducks are one of his former teams, and the Oilers will need a strong performance in goal to stay in this game.

QUICK HITS....

Jason LaBarbera must feel like he won the lottery. He struggled in Edmonton, was demoted to the AHL, got recalled due to an injury and then he was dealt to the first place Chicago Blackhawks. When Corey Crawford returns from his injury, I suspect the Hawks will send Raanta back to the AHL and LaBarbera will stay as the back up. The Hawks don't need to rush young players, and they will want Raanta to play more games in the AHL I suspect.

It was a smart trade by MacTavish. They free up a roster spot, plus it allows them to keep Laurent Brossoit in OKC and share time between the pipes with Richard Bachman. LaBarbera was the wrong choice in the summer, and the Oilers will need to do a better job next year when they go searching for a back up. They can't sign the wrong guy again.

The Ducks special teams aren't very good. Their PP is 19th and the PK is 21st, but the Ducks dominate teams at ES. They've outscored their opponents 78-55 at 5-on-5. They are 2nd in ES goals in the league.

The Oilers are almost the exact opposite to the Ducks at ES. The Oilers have given up the most goals 5-on-5, 78, and they've only scored 53. If the Oilers are going to win tonight, they likely will need at least two goals from their powerplay.

WHAT DO WE SEE....

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers struggles against the top teams continue with a 3-1 loss.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Dustin Penner scores and the Penner supporters say, "I told you the Oilers should have re-signed him."...The fact he is playing with two Olympians won't be mentioned. Penner is a very smart player defensively, and the Oilers could desperately use someone with his size, skill and smarts, but there is no way he'd have the same success in Edmonton as he is having in Anaheim. Plus, I doubt he would want to return to Edmonton.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION:Nick Schultz scores his first goal of the season. Schultz loves playing the Ducks. He has six goals in 43 career games vs. Anaheim, but he only has 21 goals in 800 games against the rest of the league. Schultz scores on a seeing shot from the point.

One of Canada's most versatile sports personalities. Jason hosts The Jason Gregor Show, weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m., on TSN 1260, and he writes a column every Monday in the Edmonton Journal. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JasonGregor

I agree, I think Smyth is a mercy signing as a 13/14th forward so he can retire an Oiler when he chooses to retire. Personally I think he'd be capable in that role, and might exceed expectations. Would like to see MacT get him down to $1 million per season though, on a 1 year deal maximum.

Makes sense.

Personally I think he should retire and get away from this stink.

I love you Smytty you will always be an Oiler great in my eyes. Too bad these last couple seasons have been losing and REEAALLY sorry you missed out on a Cup in LA to be here. You deserve a Ring.

As much as I like Ferrance, Smytty should have the "C". If anyone personifies the definition of an Oiler, then Smytty is the real deal. HE needs his statue in front of the new arena, hell, it should even be named after him.

I was just checking out 1260's webpage and their sign on is Eberle teaching cellies at hockey school. My immediate reaction was, "how the hell would he know?". Just goes to show how much these guys have fallen in public perception. 6 million a year for what, again? Oh, and for MacT signing a better choice as back up goalie this summer, as long as he makes a better choice on the number 1, Ill be happy.

I gotta throw it out there even though it's not really all that fair with the season he's had so far. With the benefit of hindsight would you keep Gags and send Cogs packing like they did or would you still like to see cogliano with the oil and Gags elsewhere.

The same clubby group that keeps lindros out? Give me a break - the HOF committee has no credibility.

Anderson never played a second of first line minutes his entire career.

He had the great good fortune of being on the greatest team in history in the highest scoring era - that pads his playoff numbers. Take the playoffs out of the equation and he is comparable to and found inferior to theoren fleury and others.
On a more mortal team he would have been an also ran - which is what he was when he played on those kind of teams.

c'mon this has to be a troll. Anderson was one of the cornerstones of that offense. Wasn't good fortune it was hard work and drive to succeed.

hate to say this but the HOF committee also put Sundin in on his first ballot only cause he was a leaf. But that doesnt take away from how great anderson was.

We need a real top pairing defenseman. Suban would look great in Oilers silks. Habs still don't use him as a true #1 and he'll want, and get a lot more cash next year., The Yak and this year's 1st may fetch us Suban.

So you would make the offer sheet and if by some chance Subban did sign it, Oilers would have to give up the next 4 1st for him.

So what would you offer Montreal in trade after signing him to this offer sheet???? I'm sure montreal would be happy to take the Oilers Next 4 1sts. You might be able to offer up an Eberle or Yak to recoup one of them but If I would was them I would want the 1sts.

Toronto overpaid the offer sheet value for Kessle to get him. ANyone wanting Subban would have to do the same.

I don't have to take their word for it. Anderson's stats showed his ability to score big goals when the team needed it. Also was fearless going to net when they were glued on, and made his own space on the ice. Yes, he was a brutal player.

I guess you are smarter than the Hall of Famer voters, which by the way needed 75% votes to put him in.

In other serious news a fan of the football club Manchester United killed himself after Man U lost in 2 consecutive games. In other news half of Edmonton jumped fron the high level bridge on Friday night.

The Oilers really could use someone with the Size, Skill, and Smarts as Penner, but it would need to be someone who could use all three of those at one time. Penner could not do that consistently, just like the players on the Oilers right now, though lacking the size.

If the Oilers had 2 Olympians to play alongside every guy with consistency issues, it wouldn't even be a discussion.

Gagner Hemsky and Marincin for Subban
Petry Eberle Jones for Tavares and pick

Wait for Yakimov Nurse and Chase

(Putting it out there. ..in hopes universe responds)

Know you're just floating ideas out there but flip those trades around and look at them from the other team's perspective... why would those teams unload home grown Olympic talent for overpaid, underperforming Oilers, and burn up room on 50 man roster lists? Unless Mike Milbury is GM'ing again somewhere around the league, no team would even consider those trades.

8 years of rebuilding and they still can't compete. I will give the Public Relations a check mark they have wrapped a horrible team and sold them as a potential playoffs team. The wrapping was beautiful and bells and whistles were excellent.

I agree, I think Smyth is a mercy signing as a 13/14th forward so he can retire an Oiler when he chooses to retire. Personally I think he'd be capable in that role, and might exceed expectations. Would like to see MacT get him down to $1 million per season though, on a 1 year deal maximum.

Agree about the building a steady defense without a #1 but how many teams win a cup without a true #1?

If Bryz does well and is in position to get another nhl contract after this year, are we sure he will resign here?

Just wondering

valid points! i was assuming the Oilers could just start *winning* with a solid, #1-less defense first, and maybe worry about finding one when they start winning....but i do realize that the Kings, Hawks and Bruins all do have true #1 d-men and have won cups, while the Devils went to the finals without one and didn't win.

as far as Bryz goes, i wonder why everyone on every hockey board i go on thinks that if Bryz shows well here, he's a goner? i understand he said some things about Edmonton in the past, but he's here and hasn't complained at all as far as i know? i'm just not as convinced as some that if he plays well, he'll take the first good offer from someone else and run.

I beg to differ. Smyth has been unimpressive since re-signing with the oils and really wasn't that great during his Odessey away from the team. He certainly takes nights off; really isn't that chippy; doesn't seem to be much of a mentor or leader.

He is far more myth than reality. But then the same can be said for a lot of players in the oilers past Glenn Anderson being #1 in that regard.

Sure, Captain Canada was more myth than reality... how old are you? Did you see him in his hayday? I think not my friend.

So Arcobello has one bad game, where everyone else had one bad game, and he gets demoted right away. And then you sit your biggest dman for a game against one of the biggest teams. Eakins is a fu$%#ng joke

Ask bob stauffer if I'm joking. He and I have had this discussion (along with my claim that the worst draft mistake ever was Mtl picking lafleur (stauffers hero) over Dionne) on several occasions over the years.

It's the commitment to the troll that I applaud. Love it man. Good on ya

I'm aware of that. I was just wondering why we're seeing them at United Cycle now. CCM made them, wasn't sure if the Oil were introing a new third in the near future.

Can’t say I’ve heard anything about a new third jersey. Wouldn’t surprise me though. I suspect jersey sales are way down this year. Gotta get the fan base motivated to spend their hard earned dollars one way or another.

We played hard but I can't help but feel like the Ducks weren't on their game tonight. We made plenty of mistakes that they didn't make us pay for. Another night, another loss. At least Bryz gives me some confidence that we might win the odd game.

Game Day Prediction: The Ducks take most of Sunday off and the Jekyll and Hyde Oiler offence returns in a big way for an unlikely 6-5 shoot out win.

Obvious Game Day Prediction: David Perron scores three goals and the winner in the shoot out. After the game, even Bob Stauffer will have verbalize the growing question: How can a cap casualty player from the Blues walk on to our team and be so much more dominant offensively than all three of our first overall picks? Also, Penner will be a +3 somehow.

Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: There will be a goaltending controversy in Edmonton after today... What controversy you may ask? The one that starts after Bryzgalov lets in 3 goals on 7 shots in the first period before being pulled. UUgggg. We can all spend Monday critiquing the win!

Definitely need to move on from Dubnyk, if we can off load him for a 2nd-3rd pick at some stage that would be great. I'm betting he's a deadline move to a playoff team in need of a backup "upgrade".

Unfortunately this is going to be another season of what we can get for moving our dead weight. Only 2.5 months or so until the deadline, hurray! Hoping for a top 5 pick this draft so we can keep adding to this elite talent we have (sarcasm). Hoping something happens and we turn it around in 2014/15. Go Oilers!

Love to see us go after Scrivens when Quick comes off IR in LA and then turn around and see if we can move Dubnyk for a player or a pick.

Unfortunately, Dubnyk's trade value will be low because he is getting paid too much to be a backup somewhere else. At best, we may be able to pull off a "Horcoff" type of deal-- take a depth player and a late pick in return.

I think Belov, N Schultz, R Smyth, R Jones are all back next season for depth. N Schultz comes back at around $2 million. Belov, Smyth and Jones all come back for under $1.5 million.

We'll get picks for Hemsky, Dubnyk, and possibly Omark before the season is done.

Potter, Eager and Grebeshkov have no value and will walk at season's end.

That's my prediction for that lot.

Why are you bringing back Smyth. Not trying to knock him but he is pretty long in the tooth and obviously hasnt helped make the team better. Not that it was his fault or anything but I don't see him as a potential difference maker anymore.

Still trying to decide if its even going to be worthwhile to turn the TV on tonight. The Vancouver game was just depressing.

Of course you will, same as I will. Masochists we may be, but we are TRUE fans first. Try reverse psychology - I did with the Avs game, rooted for them until we were up by 3, then changed tactics - it worked YAY!!!! Said 50 Hail Marys afterwards tho, as I was on a guilt trip............. need to go to confession - NAH, not till after the season ends.

As much as I like Ferrance, Smytty should have the "C". If anyone personifies the definition of an Oiler, then Smytty is the real deal. HE needs his statue in front of the new arena, hell, it should even be named after him.

I beg to differ. Smyth has been unimpressive since re-signing with the oils and really wasn't that great during his Odessey away from the team. He certainly takes nights off; really isn't that chippy; doesn't seem to be much of a mentor or leader.

He is far more myth than reality. But then the same can be said for a lot of players in the oilers past Glenn Anderson being #1 in that regard.

Still trying to decide if its even going to be worthwhile to turn the TV on tonight. The Vancouver game was just depressing.

and boring if you are an Oiler fan. i missed the 3rd period of that game...had things to do, but when i found out i just missed seeing more Canuck goals, and that the Oilers didn't even get ONE goal....AGAIN, i wasn't really surprised and was actually glad i spared myself from having to watch the 3rd.

Definitely need to move on from Dubnyk, if we can off load him for a 2nd-3rd pick at some stage that would be great. I'm betting he's a deadline move to a playoff team in need of a backup "upgrade".

Unfortunately this is going to be another season of what we can get for moving our dead weight. Only 2.5 months or so until the deadline, hurray! Hoping for a top 5 pick this draft so we can keep adding to this elite talent we have (sarcasm). Hoping something happens and we turn it around in 2014/15. Go Oilers!

If the Oilers can somehow parlay Yakupov or Eberle into a #1 d-man then 2014/15 will be fun. But if there was ever a team that needs a #1 d-man it's this team! Petry, Ference, J Schultz, Belov, N Schultz and Larsen are all being asked to play minutes they are not capable of playing. A #1 d-man eating up 25 minutes a night with skill, size and ability would do wonders for this team.

Even though the Smid trade looks horrible this season, I think it will look worthwhile in the end, even as a salary dump. Smid at $3.5 million is too much and would hold us back in the long run.

I got poo pooed on for suggesting this trade previously, but I really think the Oilers should be pursuing Kevin Shattenkirk out of St. Louis. He'd be a great fit as our #1 d-man, has no movement clauses in his contract, St. Louis and Edmonton have a recent history of trading, and St. Louis has a wealth of defensemen with limited skill up front. Maybe Hemmer to the Blues for our 2nd round pick next season returned to us builds some more goodwill? I'd be down for Eberle straight up for Shattenkirk.

There seems to be an extra amount of trashes today, is it because both the Leaf's and the Canuck's won and we are all grumpy or a bunch of trolling going on? Wayne makes a lot of cash on trashes but it would be nice to be able to see who is trashing and propping like Facebook and then people might not be so quick to trash someone.
(CWD is going to pay big time on this one)